A new challenge!

Kelly from Faithful Provisions posted about eating from your pantry challenge. The challenge is to eat from your pantry for the entire month of January. I'm not sure if I can do it for the entire month but I am willing to try it to clean out my pantry of those foods about to expire.

So I am going to do this challenge with a spin to it. I don't have alot of meats in the freezer so I will need to pick up some meat through out the month. I do have lots of side items in the pantry that need to be used.

I pray that I can do this. Also we tend to eat alot of heat and serve foods... chicken nuggets and fish sticks being the kids faves... but my plan is to put a stop to alot of it this month.

Upset with myself

I sat down tonight to sort through what was left of my coupons.... you see, I stopped using coupons for about 6 months.... why you ask.... because I got lazy! And as I was sorting through the coupons that are still good, I find one for the rolls that I bought Sunday. If I had that coupon with me, I could have saved $1 off the rolls that coat me $2.60 a package.

So tonight I am vowing to get back into coupons. I can't imagine how much money I could have saved if I had continued to use coupons.

stock pile eating

I really haven't been buying groceries over the last three months. I have bought the necessities and a few other items, but that is all. I haven't even kept up with what all I have spent.

Beginning July 1, I will start keeping track of my groceries again. I have my coupon binder almost back in order and a stack of coupons to clip this week. I will buy the necessities again this week, and then July 15 I will buy several things that I need for my stock pile.

March... the first 10 days.....

The first 10 days of March have been busy for our family. Kaitlyn is having a birthday party this coming weekend and Don and I went to the mountains this past weekend. My shopping lately has reflected all of this.

I am not going to break my trips down completely, just post where and when and how much. I will work on posting better from now on.

March 1:

Walgreens:
trans #1: Spent $12.10 saved $9.43 plus $2.56 with store discount (thanks to my dear hubby!)
trans #2: spent $42.97 saved $21.07 plus $11.22 store discount
trans #3: spent $38.61 saved $27.98 plus $8.06 store discount.

Total spent $93.68 OUCH! But saved $80.32
Don decided he needed new replacement heads for his razor and those were $25. We also stocked up on Zyrtec since I could get a RR from it. Those three items alone were $58.

March 6:
Walgreens:
returned the replacement heads that Don got earlier because they were the wrong ones.
trans #1: returned razor heads and bought J&J baby products for my (former) step daughter who is expecting.
Spent $0.74 saved $8.75
trans #2: spent $0.62 saved #11.80

Walmart:
Bought food for trip along with snacks for Girl scouts (cupcake cake for Kaitlyn's birthday)
Spent $51.73 No coupons used :(

March 7:
Walgreens:
Spent $15.59 saved $15.30 I forgot my comb and brush so I had to run to the store to get new ones... and then bought flip flops while there.

March 9:
Walmart:
Spent $82.30 No coupons here again... but I bought shoes and clothes for the kids mainly here. Not alot of this was food. I won't be counting this toward my monthly budget.

Walgreens:
Trans #1: spent $22.70 saved $13.97 this is mainly pullups for Will but I did get diapers for Cecilia
Trans #2: spent $15.53 saved $20.47 this was all diapers for Cecilia.

total spent in the first 10 days: $200.59. YIKES! That is almost my entire budget. I realize that this month is not my normal since we did have a trip and birthday. Kaitlyn is having a total of 3 parties... which means spending alot of money on food. I will be making cupcakes for her sleepover and think I will see if my mom will make her a cake for our family party.

February

February was a rough month for me. For some reason, I misplaced several receipts for Feb which means i can not post what I spent for the month. So I am beginning fresh. March here I come.

My month

I was sitting here trying to think of what I have spent this month and then realized that this month is almost over! I was worried that I had gone over my $350 a month because I spent $160 at Walmart last Sat. I still have to blog about my trips this month and I only have just over a week left in the month.

The good news is our income tax refund will be in this week. Bad news is it is almost completely spent before I get it. Dh wants to get a new laptop so we can stop fighting over this one. I want new sheets and we need a new mattress cover. I figure since I haven't bought new sheets in 5 years, I was entitled to some.

So tomorrow I will sit down and blog about my shopping this month to date. I am sure I still have the reciepts in my purse since I never clean it out.

Will's birthday party

Will turns 3 next week! He has been so excited about his birthday for almost a month. This year he first wanted a Mickey Mouse party.... then I showed him the plates that were in my party box. This is a box of party supplies left over from previous parties. Four years ago Kaitlyn had a firetruck party. I found party supplies in a party store on clearance. I paid $25.00 for a box of firetruck party supplies. There were enough plates, cups, hats, and invitations in the box for at least three parties. Kaitlyn got her party 4 years ago. Now it is Will's turn.

So on Sunday, I will put out the firetruck plates, cups, and napkins. I will gather the kids together and let them play with the party hats. I will light candles on a cake made by my mom in a fire fighter cake pan I bought 4 years ago. And the cost of the party will be the cake mix, and the koolaid mixes.... and of course his present from us.

The best thing about the party is that is costing me next to nothing!